Grand Bassin, Mauritius - December 2011

Tourelle du Tamarin viewed from our climb up to the Grand Bassin.

The Grand Bassin in Mauritius is not a grand geological feature as some may expect from the name, although it is quite nice, no the Grand Bassin is actually a religious site. After soaking up the sun on the beautiful white sand beaches of Mauritius for a few days, today Sam and I decided to head up into the hills and visit the Grand Bassin. Now strap yourself in for a Feral lesson in Hindu theology. It seems that old mate Shiva and his wife were flying around the world on a flying machine made out of flowers, flying over Mautitius Shiva was dazzled by the island in the emerald sea and decided to go down and check things out. It just so happens that Shiva was carrying the Ganges River on his head to protect the world from floods and as he landed he spilt a few drops from his head into the crater, the spilt water resulting in the lake that is the Grand Bassin. Apparently Ganges wasn't overjoyed to be left on this Indian Ocean paradise so Shiva reassured it that the people from the banks of the Ganges would one day call this place home and perform an annual pilgrimage....and so it was!

Climbing up into the mountains we passed this crater, but do you think I can remember it's name?....

Approximately 500,000 locals make the pilgrimage each year up to the Grand Bassin, thankfully though the numbers were a lot lower on our visit today. We'd already been in Mauritius for a few days when we decided to head into the hills, the first thing we noticed today was the humidity dropping as we climbed up into the mountains. The other notable thing for me anyway was how much natural vegetation there was left up here in the mountains, so far on our visit to Mauritius we had barely seen any native vegetation with the coastal plains being intensively cultivated. Our drive up from the coast took us through the Black River Gorges National Park, from what I can work out Mauritius' only National Park. Arriving at the large car park at the Grand Bassin (it seems that not all the pilgrims come on foot judging by the extensive car park) we were greeted by a monkey. Now that might not be worth mentioning to most people but for Sam and I it was very exciting as we'd never actually seen a free range monkey before, although the monkey wasn't really to interested in us today being more content to tuck into some potato chips that people were giving it, hmmm....

My first ever free range monkey, well it was a big deal for me anyway.

From the car park we wandered up to the check out the large statue of Lord Shiva, although with sun behind it all I really got was a silhouette of it. After unsuccessfully capturing anything of any quality on my SD card we headed down to the lake shore to respectfully check out some of the other temples, I say respectfully because I was acutely aware that, while I am a godless heathen there are plenty of other people here worshipping in the temples and it wasn't something that I felt comfortable intruding into. After wandering around the site for awhile, enjoying both the cultural aspect along with the cooler temperatures we headed off towards our next highlight, Le Chamarel Restaurant. Now while I am pretty good on the tooth a restaurant wouldn't normally count as a highlight for me, but the Le Chamarel Restaurant not only featured some nice enough food but also a five star view from it's balcony. We were able to enjoy our lunch looking down to the monolithic Le Morne Brabant and fair chunk of the western coastline of Mauritius.

The silhouette of Lord Shiva.

Looking across the Grand Bassin.

Suitably fortified after lunch we made the short drive to Chamarel Falls, this waterfall drops from the surrounding jungle around 95 metres into the abyss below. While we were visiting in the rainy season we hadn't actually had that much rain in the previous few days so consequently we probably didn't get to see Chamarel Falls at their finest today. The falls are actually in the Chamarel Coloured Earth Reserve so it would be rude to visit without checking out the coloured earths themselves. The coloured earth is an area of coloured sand dunes, the dunes are fenced off but you can walk around the area on a good track that allows for plenty of views of the colourful sands. I would imagine that these dunes would be seen at their best around sunrise or sunset so if you can get up here at that time of day it would be ideal, even so our visit in the early afternoon was still worth while.

Black River Gorges National Park

The view from our table for lunch at Le Chamarel Restaurant was special, to say the least.

Chamarel Waterfall.

After taking in our fill of the coloured sands we checked out another of the attractions of the Chamarel Coloured Earth Reserve some giant tortoises, these pre historic animals are always fascinating, although maybe it's just me that finds them fascinating, probably because I'm happy to find another living creature that actually moves slower than the Feral walker;) With the day coming to it's end we started of on our journey back to Flic en Flac, breaking the journey with a stop at the Rhumerie de Chamarel for some rum tasting. Yeah, I might be a little uncouth in that my palate hasn't developed a taste for wine but rum tasting is something that seems to agree with me. Luckily for me Sam didn't share my enthusiasm for the different flavoured rums so I was able to partake in her samples as well, it was a pretty well lubed Feral traveller who rolled back into our resort that night.

The falls today probably weren't at their most spectacular, but they were still worth a look.

Chamarel Coloured Earths

The Dirt.

We organised a driver for the day and he sorted out all the entrance fees and logistics for us which made things pretty easy. The Grand Bassin is definitely worth checking out, it makes a perfect antidote from all the tourists and humidity down on the coast. The Le Chamarel Restaurant is worth dining at even if only for the stunning view from the dining deck, posting this link it said that the restaurant is closed until the middle of 2016? so it may be to check things out if you want to visit. The Rhumerie de Chamarel is really worth visiting, the guided tour along with the rum tasting being a bit of a highlight, the architecture and restaurant are also worth a visit in their own right.

Relevant Posts.

Ile Aux Cerfs, Mauritius, 2011.

Port Louis, Mauritius, 2011.

Casela Nature Park, Mauritius, 2011.

It was feeding time for the giant tortoises when we were at the coloured sands.

The west coast of Mauritius.

The big lump of rock out in the ocean is Le Morne Brabant, it's actually on a small peninsula.

Carlton & Queen Victoria Market Walk - October 2017.

Blender Lane

Before I disappear into the mountains for six weeks Sam and I decided to head into Melbourne for a night of r&r. Of course there's only so much shopping and eating I can take before I start to think of doing a walk, so with Sam keen to join me we decided to head up to Victoria Parade and do the Carlton & Queen Victoria Market Walk, more or less as written up by Julie Monday in Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay & City Walks. We were staying at the QT on Russell Street so we just ambled up a couple of blocks, passing the Old Melbourne Goal on the way and joined the described walk at the 8 hour reserve.

Old Melbourne Goal looks a lot more welcoming now days.

Solidarity Forever.....

Once on our notes and map we headed down Franklin Street towards the bustling Queen Victoria Market, passing the Melbourne institution of Dracula's Theatre Restaurant, the City Baths and then squeezing passed the construction area for Melbourne Metro, which will hopefully be finished in my lifetime. Heading along Franklin Street we happened to glance down Blender Lane and discovered a great little lane full of street art. A lot of the small lane ways full of street art are now also full of tourists so it was great to find this little gem and be able to enjoy it on our own. 

Half of Melbourne has probably visited this spot over the years I'm guessing.

Behind the blue cladding on Franklin Street the new Melbourne Metro is finally starting to be built.

Sam, perusing the street art in Blender Lane.

That's a little scary for the little ones....

...and that's a bit scary for the big ones!

Street art is like most other art in my eyes, the more you look the more you see so it pays to take your time and allow your eyes and mind adjust. Eventually we decided that we'd better make a move for the Queen Victoria Market. The Queen Victoria Market site has been used for a few different things over the years, from Melbourne's first cemetery, a school, a military drill hall and of course a market. The market is heritage listed and there is an ongoing redevelopment squabble going on, I don't know enough about the redevelopment to really comment much, although with property developers involved I'd be very dubious of the outcome being better for the public than it will be for the property developers bank balance.

The heritage listed Queen Victoria Markets.

The Queen Victoria Market consists of a series of low buildings and are a popular attraction in their own right. We wandered through a couple of them today checking out the sights and smells of the produce and fresh meats, if you lived locally this would be a great spot to shop. Making our way out of the markets we headed up Therry Street and Bouverie Street passing the bluestone facade of the old Melbourne Brewing & Malting Company on the way, the old building dates back to the 1880's but only the facade survives today.

The Queen Victoria Markets are a feast for your senses.

Only the blue stone facade of the old Melbourne Brewing & Malting Company survives.

Reaching the small park of Lincoln Square we passed through and then headed up Pelham Street towards the slightly more substantial Argyle Square on Lygon Street. Argyle Square had what looked like cherry blossom trees blooming, although treat that as Feral Fact. The white blossoms floating down certainly looked nice anyway, whatever they are. Lygon Street is another of those Melbourne institutions, it's Melbourne's own little Italy and is home to some great eateries all with there own Italian flair. Despite the beautiful smells emanating out of the eateries we managed to make our way along Lygon Street today without succumbing to temptation, turning east down Elgin Street at the end of the strip.

Lincoln Square.

Argyle Square

Lygon Street has no shortage of temptations.

Lygon Street

The next section of our walk had us walking through some more residential stress as we made our way towards Carlton Gardens. The terrace houses and workers cottages being the best feature of this part of the walk, along with the occasional remaining bluestone lanes between the terraces houses. After gently climbing up Barkly Street we entered Carlton Gardens beside the old gothic Carlton Gardens School Building, I'm thinking the children would of appreciated this fairy tale like school back in the day.

Heading up towards Carlton Gardens the terrace houses were a feature.

There are still a few blue stone lanes around.

The historic Carlton Gardens School.

Carlton Gardens is home to a few more of Melbourne's icons. First up we passed the very colourful Imax Theatre, before making our way through the park between the super modern Melbourne Museum and the UNESCO World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Centre. The exhibition centre dates back to the 1880's although now days has been superseded somewhat as an exhibition centre by the more modern Jeff's Shed down on the Yarra River at Southbank. After passing the Hochgurtal Fountain with a couple of the local children frolicking in it, we made our way south through the manicured grounds of the park to meet Victoria Parade and complete our afternoons ramble.

The super modern Melbourne Museum.....

...and the historic Royal Exhibition Building, the first building in Australia to be World Heritage listed by UNESCO.

The Hochgurtal Fountain, the kids are pretty keen, it wasn't a very warm Melbourne day today.

Carlton Gardens

Now as I briefly mentioned earlier Sam and I spent the night in the Melbourne CBD at the QT on Russell Street. This hotel is super modern and trendy, way too trendy for me to feel comfortable in the restaurant or bar. Like the rest of the hotel the rooms are also pretty modern, we had a Deluxe King Room, which gave us a fairly big, open plan room and bathroom, complete with sliding partitions if you want to keep the conversation going while you're luxuriating in the big bath or under the rain water shower. The king sized bed was on the very soft side which is a negative for me but the room had good wifi included which is a positive. For my $370 I think I'll try somewhere else next time we spend a night in the city though.

The foyer of the QT.

Our Deluxe King Room.

The partitions slid back for some open plan bathing.

The Dirt.

We did walk number 5, the Carlton & Queen Victoria Market Walk out of Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay & City Walks today. The walk comes in at around 5 kilometres so it's definitely on the easy side. The sights and smells of Queen Victoria Markets demand some time to explore, but for me Lygon Street is harder to pass through without stopping to partake in some great Italian fare. This is a nice little walk with plenty to hold most peoples interest I would of thought.

Relevant Posts.

Laneways & Melbourne Heritage Walk, 2014.

Federation Square & Southbank Walk, 2105.

Parliament Hill & Fitzroy Gardens Walk, 2016.

A Carlton Garden Moreton island Fig Tree.